Combustible gas devices comprising a pilot burner typically keep the pilot flame lit from when the device itself is switched on, until it is turned off. This involves a high consumption of gas.
In order to limit the amount of gas that such devices consume, gas regulation systems are known, which act on the pilot burner in order to extinguish the pilot flame when the main burner is turned off. US patent application 2007/0275334 A1 describes one example of the above-mentioned gas-regulation system. In particular, the regulation system described in US 2007/0275334 A1 provides the use of a temperature sensor positioned near to the main flame produced by the main burner of a gas system and of a control unit connected to a valve apparatus arranged upstream of the pilot burner with regard to the direction of flow of a flow of gas directed towards said burner. The temperature sensor is electrically connected to the control unit so as to actuate said valve apparatus in order to block the gas directed towards the pilot burner when a specific condition occurs, i.e. the decrease in the temperature detected by the temperature sensor as a result of the main burner being turned off.
The regulation system described in US 2007/0275334 A1 is, however, susceptible to several drawbacks. These drawbacks may be identified as the increase in the structural complexity of the gas device as a result of the temperature sensor being in the vicinity of the main burner, and as the need to provide a temperature sensor that can resist very high temperatures and is therefore relatively expensive.
The object of the present invention is to provide a control system for controlling the pilot flame of a combustible gas device, a valve assembly comprising said control system, a combustible gas device comprising said control system, and a method for controlling the pilot flame of said combustible gas device, which overcome at least one of the disadvantages of the identified prior art.